Several months ago, thanks to a post by Kevin O’Brien, I was introduced to a new sitcom on the web called Ordinary. The show revolves around a Roman Catholic Priest as he begins his journey at his first parish. It has been a real treat to be able to enjoy a sitcom that is fresh, funny, and entertaining, without being overly crass. Written, produced, directed and starred in by Timothy Quigley of Key Row Pictures, this is the best Catholic slice-of-life programming our family has had the pleasure to watch.

It gets better, though, when we realize the potential for reaching Catholics all over the world. I believe this is a terrific way to evangelize through media and the arts. Which brings me to the point of my post.

I am writing to you today as a fan who would like to see another season of Ordinary., and I am asking for your help. . You see, I found out that Timothy Quigley is trying to raise funds for the second season from Mark Shea and Frank Weathers, and I thought about how I might be able to help.

I have created a fundraiser through my personal Pampered Chef® business, and will donate my commission (15%) to help fund Ordinary. My goal is to raise $500, and I am asking for your help to get the word out, and for your support. You can read more about Pampered Chef® and their mission here. Now, I would like to share the ways you can support my fundraiser for Ordinary!

Everyone wins with this type of fundraiser! You will receive top quality products to enjoy for years to come, while helping out a great cause. I have products from PC that are 17+ years old, and still going strong! Your purchase brings us one step towards our goal of $500 to donate to Ordinary!

How else can you help, did you say??? I am SO glad you asked! J

Here are THREE additional things you can do to help this fundraiser:

Invite everyone you know who eats to join my Ordinary Fundraiser group here;

Set a goal to collect 5-10 orders! I am offering a FREE GIFT to everyone who collects at least FIVE orders, so we can reach our goal!

Want FREE Pampered Chef for your home? Host a cooking or Facebook party within 6 months and Ordinary receives an addition $5 donation for EACH show held!!!

Please remember to SHARE Ordinarywith everyone! People are more likely to help once they enjoy the show.

I cannot do this without each of you. Thanks in advance for your help!

Thanks be to God!!! The high-risk doctor told her that baby’s heartbeat sounded very good! Also, Krystle does NOT have a synechiae, instead they are calling it a ‘circumvallate placenta’. She will be monitored throughout the rest of her pregnancy, as this can interfere with baby’s growth, among other things. I am working to learn more about this, and will update on my blog as I have new information. We thank God, and ALL of you, for your prayers these past few weeks. Please continue to lift mother and baby up in your prayers, thanks and God bless you!! We will keep you posted as we are updated. God bless you!!!

Novena for Krystle: Day Nine

Today is the final day of our novena – thank you for praying with us!!!

St. Gianna

Over the years following Gianna’s death, her story and the crux of her holiness has often been reduced to a sound byte concerning her death: a mother sacrificing her life for her baby. Though there was sacrifice involved, the truest understanding of St. Gianna examines her entire life. Pietro reported that initially in the process of examining the miracles and verifying the accounts, all anyone spoke of was Gianna’s martyr-like sacrifice. He responded, “Gianna’s whole life was an uninterrupted act of Christian witness, of grace. Thus, this more profound understanding has led to the final picture of a woman, of a mother beatified precisely for the way in which she knew how to live every phase of her life.” She lived her whole life in love. As the gospel of John speaks of Jesus, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end,” St. Gianna did the same. She loved Jesus, his mother Mary, his Church, her own family, her patients, her spouse Pietro, her children Pierluigi, Mariolina, Laura and Gianna Emanuela. May we all be so graced as to live our lives in such a way—witnessing to the great love God has for us in our ordinary everyday lives and giving ourselves completely in love to others.

Krystle

Krystle has been deeply grateful for all of the prayer she has been the recipient of the past nine days. She has reported feeling the effects of the prayers, namely in feeling loved and being filled with hope. Thank you! And thank God! I know that many of you are concerned with how this story will continue to unfold and several of you have expressed that you will continue to pray. This is sincerely appreciated and welcomed! To this end, Krystle will be updating family & friends & concerned, praying people of what is going on via this blog site. Thank you, and please – check back with us often!!!

Thank you for joining us in this community of prayer. I am amazed and humbled by the communion of saints—in heaven and on earth. May we all love God with our whole lives, like St. Gianna, like Krystle, and believe in the power of prayer, in our God who hears us and Christ who heals us.

Prayer of the Day

Pray for a safe delivery for Krystle and baby. Continue to pray for her upcoming visit to the High-Risk obstetrician this coming Friday. Pray for continued love and support throughout this whole journey. And please pray for a complete healing for Krystle and baby Kara Anne.

Novena Prayer

God, we thank you for the gift of Gianna Beretta Molla. We thank you for her deep commitment to you, her life of service, her love for her family, her care of the sick and suffering, and her example of choosing the path of suffering and laying down her own life in love. May she inspire us, and may she intercede for all of us, but especially now for our sister Krystle.

St. Gianna, filled with love for God…pray for Krystle.
St. Gianna, who sought the will of God in all things…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, generous with those in need…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, physician to the ill…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, devoted to prayer…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, faithful daughter of the church…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, willing to lay down your life for the sake of the gospel…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, patient in suffering…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, united to Jesus on the cross…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, called to the vocation of marriage…pray for Krystle and Kyle
St. Gianna, filled with love for children…pray for Krystle and Kayla and Connor
St. Gianna, who welcomed children as a blessing…pray for Krystle and baby Kara Anne in Krystle’s womb

(prayer for specific intentions)

Let us pray. Lord of life we thank you for the heroic witness of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. You have taught us that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others. Saint Gianna did this, not only as she gave birth to her last child, but also in her everyday life as she died to herself so she could live wholly for you. Help us, we pray, that through the intercession of Saint Gianna, we too will be able to lay down our lives in love. Help us to hold strong to the sacredness of all human life. Fill us with her spirit of courage to suffer with our struggles, uniting us more to your son Jesus. We ask you this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Many of our novena reflections were based on what Sarah Riggio learned in the book: Saint Gianna Molla: Wife, Mother, Doctor by Pietro Molla & Elio Guerriero.

Novena for Krystle: Day Eight

St. Gianna

After her death, Gianna’s witness to our loving God was just as strong and even grew as those who told the story of her life testified to her everyday sanctity and the power of her choices to love her children, even sacrificially. She was beloved in her region of Italy, but also in parts of Brazil where her brother served as a missionary priest. In 1977, in a small city in Brazil, a young woman gave birth to her fourth child, a still born baby, and two weeks later (after discharge from the hospital) developed a very severe and life-threatening complication resulting from the C-section. She was deteriorating rapidly and needed to be transported to another hospital for care. One of the nuns at the hospital (which happened to be established by Gianna’s brother) took a picture of Gianna in her hands, and with a couple other nurses, besought Gianna to pray for the young mother that her life be spared without having to make the risky journey to another town. Immediately, the pain in the woman’s body disappeared and she was healed. The Church investigated the story for over 10 years before declaring it a third degree miracle. That is, an instantaneous, complete and lasting cure unexplained by medical science. This led to the beatification of Gianna on April 24, 1994. Then in 1999, also in a small city in Brazil, a 35 year old mother named Elizabeth was pregnant with her fourth child. The pregnancy had several complications at the start and things got worse quickly at 16 weeks when her membranes ruptured and she had no amniotic fluid in the embryo’s sac. The doctors recommended an abortive procedure because they were convinced the baby would not survive and the mother was at great risk for infection. Elizabeth was distraught and could not choose this. She prayed and consulted with others. A good friend asked the bishop for his prayers. He counseled Elizabeth: “Do what Blessed Gianna did, and, if necessary, give your life for the child. I was praying at home and I said to the Blessed in prayer, ‘Now has arrived the opportunity for you to be canonized. Intercede before the Lord for the grace of a miracle and save the life of this little child.'” It was not an easy choice for her, she struggled with fear of losing her own life, but in her 32nd week, she delivered a healthy baby girl named Gianna Maria. And even though she had some life-threatening concerns post-birth, she too recovered fully. The Church investigated the story for one year before it was declared a “super miraculo” and Gianna Beretta Molla was canonized by Pope John Paul II in May of 2004. Considering Gianna’s own life story, it seems “very beautiful and fitting that her heroic virtue was acknowledged and confirmed by the Universal Church through two intercessory miracles involving two mothers and an innocent baby in the womb.”1

Krystle

Krystle is incredibly thoughtful in her choices, always trying to discern the spirit of God and being open to God’s leading. And God has been leading Krystle, as she finds herself returning to the Catholic Church. Please pray for Krystle, as she seeks out this expression of faith with her family. Krystle and Kyle have been praying this novena along with all of us, and though the format and language of intercession of the saints is new to their family, they embrace fully the mystery of God in prayer and seek God’s touch, God’s word, and God’s mercy through devotion to Him.

Novena Prayer

God, we thank you for the gift of Gianna Beretta Molla. We thank you for her deep commitment to you, her life of service, her love for her family, her care of the sick and suffering, and her example of choosing the path of suffering and laying down her own life in love. May she inspire us, and may she intercede for all of us, but especially now for our sister Krystle.

St. Gianna, filled with love for God…pray for Krystle.
St. Gianna, who sought the will of God in all things…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, generous with those in need…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, physician to the ill…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, devoted to prayer…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, faithful daughter of the church…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, willing to lay down your life for the sake of the gospel…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, patient in suffering…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, united to Jesus on the cross…pray for Krystle
St. Gianna, called to the vocation of marriage…pray for Krystle and Kyle
St. Gianna, filled with love for children…pray for Krystle and Kayla and Connor
St. Gianna, who welcomed children as a blessing…pray for Krystle and baby Kara Anne in Krystle’s womb

(prayer for specific intentions)

Let us pray. Lord of life we thank you for the heroic witness of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. You have taught us that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others. Saint Gianna did this, not only as she gave birth to her last child, but also in her everyday life as she died to herself so she could live wholly for you. Help us, we pray, that through the intercession of Saint Gianna, we too will be able to lay down our lives in love. Help us to hold strong to the sacredness of all human life. Fill us with her spirit of courage to suffer with our struggles, uniting us more to your son Jesus. We ask you this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.